Protected areas of California

Obtaining an accurate total of all protected land in California and elsewhere is a complex task.

[2] The best known is Yosemite National Park, noted for several iconic natural features including Yosemite Falls, El Capitan and Half Dome, which is displayed on the reverse side of the California state quarter.

California has four of the thirteen U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries: National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Many of the state's refuges are important stops and destinations for millions of migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway corridor.

One, the Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area, has the highest density of waterfowl in the world.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is not precisely a national forest in the conventional sense.

Activities include: experimental timber harvesting techniques, watershed restoration, mushroom collecting, hunting, firewood gathering, cone collecting for seed, a variety of university research projects, horseback riding, camping, mountain biking, and hiking.

[14] The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), through its seven regional divisions,[15] manages more than 700 protected areas statewide, totaling 1,177,180 acres (4,763.9 km2).

[16] They are broadly categorized as: In addition to the many public lands are about 550,000 acres (2,200 km2) of privately owned preserves.

Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Bureau of Reclamation The Wildlands Conservancy The Nature Conservancy Imperial Irrigation District East Bay Regional Park District California Department of Water Resources The Conservation Fund - California California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection City of San Diego U.S. Army Corps of Engineers City and County of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission County of Orange 20,758,417 14,991,556 7,600,268 1,391,104 676,763 575,354 400,019 323,487 243,675 145,936 136,553 103,369 102,186 88,953 74,372 72,645 68,986 68,725 62,520 59,197

Redwood grove in Redwood National Park
Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park
Old-growth forest at Muir Woods National Monument
Yucca plant near coast of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Palomarin Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore
Castle Peaks in Mojave National Preserve
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
King Range Wilderness
Headwaters Forest
Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station
Golden Trout Wilderness along the Pacific Crest Trail
Bigelow Cholla Garden Wilderness
Sanderlings at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Bobcat at the Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
Arroyo toad at the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay NWR
Black-necked stilt at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge
Ross's geese at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Snow geese at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge
American badger at the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge
Emerald Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness
The Inyo National Forest contains Mount Whitney , the highest point in California.
Entrance to Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest .
Sunset at Bolsa Chica State Beach
Hunting Hollow in Henry W. Coe State Park
Rain-soaked wetlands at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area
Griffith Park in the city of Los Angeles
Santa Cruz Island